The present invention is related to face masks, and in particular, to a face mask having multiple segments adhesively attachable to the skin of a person""s face.
Decorating one""s face by applying paint, make-up or a mask is well known to the young and old alike. As examples, every October 31, a significant number of children dress up with costume and hide behind a disguise to go about their neighborhoods from door-to-door trick-or-treating. Adults participate in masquerade balls with lesser or greater involvement, but almost always involving some sort of a disguise, usually in the form of a mask.
The style of disguise and method for achieving the disguise are almost as varied as the number of people that put on a disguise or decorate their faces. Some methods, probably as old as the history of man, use paints in the form of colorful pigments suspended in some suitable base that are then spread about the surface of the person""s face to create the disguise, or the chosen effect. This form of painting one""s face is as common, and yet sophisticated and as subtle, as the application of facial make-up, a method used by many people on a daily basis.
The application of pigments directly to the person""s face must also eventually involve the process of removing the pigments. This process can be time consuming and messy on a routine basis. However, despite the mess and tedium, this method of decorating one""s face is still preferred by many that use minimal amounts of make-up or pigment.
Traditional masks are useful if a person wishes to decorate or disguise their face, and yet avoid the messiness of applying paints and pigments directly to their face. Masks have the unfortunate difficulty of oftentimes being cumbersome and difficult to manage, especially for the younger child. The mask frequently interferes with the wearer""s vision, usually because of the distance the mask must be offset from the wearer""s face creating a tunnel vision effect. Another difficulty encountered, particularly with a full face mask, is interference with breathing, either from obstruction or, more subtly, from poor air exchange by inadvertently trapping air behind the mask and forcing the wearer to frequently rebreathe their exhaled breath. Depending on the size of the mask, the mask might interfere with motion of the head or become uncomfortable to wear because of a build up of heat that may cause sweating or other unwanted conditions.
In more recent times, decals have been developed whereby a decoration is applied to the surface of a small piece of extremely thin and flimsy plastic film. These decals are small because of the difficulty encountered in handling the plastic film. The film has a tendency to fold over on itself and render the decal useless. Consequently, only a very small surface area of skin is covered by a decal. The decals have also proven to be difficult to remove at times because of the thinness of the film. Not coming off directly, but rather through the natural turnover of the skin as the skin stuffs over time. These decals may be quite unsightly over time while they slowly disintegrate.
There is a need for a facial decorating or disguising mask that is easy to apply, will cover as much or as little of the face as is desired, is easily removed, which is non-irritating and not messy, and does not interfere with natural vision, breathing, or motion of the head or face.
The present invention is a face mask suitable for application to a skin surface of a person""s face, the face mask comprising a plurality of facial mask segments of resilient polymeric foam, each segment conformable to at least a portion of the surface of the person""s face and including a first surface, a second surface and a shaped peripheral margin, an attachment means, suitable for use on the first surface of each segment and suitable for attaching the segment to the person""s skin; and decoration means, suitable for application on the second surface of each segment, for decorating the face mask; wherein the plurality of facial mask segments cover substantially all of the surface of the skin of the person""s face.
The present invention anticipates that the second surface is suitable for receiving a decoration onto the surface. The segments are shaped so as to fit over and conform to a portion of the person""s face, and thus, segmentally cover substantially all of the face, thereby giving the effect of having a complete mask on the face. The present invention anticipates that the mask segments may be decorated at the time of manufacture with many different decorations by either directly printing or painting the decoration onto the segment second surfaces. Another method is to apply the decoration using a set of decorated decal segments shaped to conform to the segment shapes of the present invention mask and applying the appropriate decal segment to its appropriate mask segment.
Alternatively, the present invention anticipates that a wearer may wish to have the opportunity of creating their own decoration. As a consequence, the mask of the present invention may have a blank surface suitable for providing a surface for the wearer to apply their own paint, ink or other pigmented make-up to. Additionally, the present invention anticipates that the second surface also may be textured or have a three dimensional contour across its surface that contributes to, or enhances, the decoration applied to the second surface of the mask segment.
The present invention also anticipates the use of accessory segments that are suitably attachable onto the second surface of a mask segment. The accessory segment may be used to augment the main decoration or alter or change the primary decoration of the main mask segment to which the accessory is applied.
An object of the present invention is to provide a facial mask that is easy to apply having sufficient bulk or thickness so as to not easily fold back on itself. Yet each mask segment is resilient so as to easily shape and conform itself to the surface contour of the portion of face it is to cover.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mask that covers as much or as little of the face as is desired. The present invention anticipates that the wearer may wish to trim down any, or all, of the various mask segments so as to tailer the invention to shape and fit the individual wearer""s face. So as to not lose the decoration by trimming a mask segment down to fit a small child, the present invention anticipates the need to provide several general sizes for groups of variously sized faces minimizing, or eliminating, the need for any actual trimming or shaping.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a segmented mask that is easily removed. The polymer foam has a sufficient strength so as to not rip or tear leaving small sections on the person""s face. Additionally, the present invention uses attachment means suitable for use on the skin of a person""s face. The adhesive is non-irritating and hypo-allergenic to the skin and sufficiently strong to hold a mask segment, yet come away with little effort when peeling the segment off.
Another further object of the present invention is to provide a segmented mask that is not messy to use or remove. By applying the decoration directly to the second surface of each mask segment, the wearer avoids the mess of having make-up or similar pigments or paints applied directly to the skin. The wearer also avoids the unsightly remnants of a decal that is only partially removable.
An additional further object of the present invention is to provide a segmented facial mask that does not interfere with natural vision, breathing, or motion of the head or face. The present invention anticipates the use of polymeric foam sufficiently thin so as to not cause any physical impairment to the wearer.